You may have noticed that the legacy HLDSUpdateTool, is deprecated for a while. Since the recent udpate from Steam that forces all CSS clients to use the new SteamPipe system, the server downloaded by HLDSUpdateTool is definitely deprecated.

If you try to run a deprecated version of your server (acquired with HLDSUpdateTool), you will get one of the following :

MasterRequestRestartYour server is out of date. Please update and restart.

MasterRequestRestartServer will restart on map change.

And the client is getting the following :

The server you are connecting to is running an older version of the game

You can try to update using HLDSUpdateTool but nothing will change, you will be stuck with your old version, and you will keep getting the same errors.

The key is to get the new CSS server software, that uses SteamPipe. To do so, you have to grab the new SteamCMD program, that replaces HLDSUpdateTool, and install the CSS server as explained in Valve documentation.

Here is a few-steps tutorial to install your new CSS server :

Make sure you create a new directory for SteamCMD files, do not install it in HLDSUpdateTool directory : mkdir steamcmd && cd steamcmd

Now you can run your new CSS server : get back to the upper directory (cd ..) and start it :./css_server/srcds_run -steam_dir steamcmd/ -steamcmd_script steamcmd/steamcmd.sh -console -game cstrike +map de_dust2 -maxplayers 20 -port 27015

Of course, you will have to copy your existing server.cfg, mapcycle, and MODs to your new CSS installation directory (in css_server/cstrike/ sub-folders).

I hope this post will help those who are stuck with these “server deprecated” errors and unable to use their server. Have fun !

It is not recommended anymore to use HLDSUpdateTool to set up and update your Counter Strike server, it will give you a deprecated version of the server since Valve has moved his games to SteamPipe.

I will explain in this short tutorial how to set up your Counter Strike server using the new Valve bootstrap: SteamCMD.

Step 1: Your server

I am making the assumption that you have a dedicated server (virtual or not), with shell and root access. If you don't have root access, I assume that you have at least shell access, possibility to open ports, and 32bit libraries installed.

Make a new user and "su" it:adduser --disabled-login steamsu steam
cd /home/steam

You should NEVER run a server with root user, every time you want tot start your server, do a "su steam" or log in with this user before. If you want to log in with the steam user, remove the --disabled-login from command line when creating it.

Step 4: Download and install SteamCMD

Create a new directory and use it as your current directory:mkdir steamcmd && cd steamcmd

Get the SteamCMD binary:wget http://media.steampowered.com/client/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Extract the tarball:tar -xzf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Run the steamcmd binary, it will update:./steamcmd.sh

Step 5: Download the Counter Strike server

The command line will force the installation directory in a separate directory. It prevents messing with SteamCMD directories when you configure and start the game server.

Of course, you can change the name of the installation directory. Just don't forget the ../ before the folder name to install it in the upper directory, otherwise you will mess your SteamCMD installation with game files.

Use the same command to update your server when needed.

Step 6: Configure your server

I can't learn you anything here: just place your server.cfg, mods, and maps accordingly in the installation folder.

You may have noticed that the legacy HLDSUpdateTool, is deprecated for a while. Since the recent udpate from Steam that forces all TF2 clients to use the new SteamPipe system, the server downloaded by HLDSUpdateTool is definitely deprecated. The Team Fortress’ wiki is giving wrong informations, that procedure is deprecated.

If you try to run a deprecated version of your server (acquired with HLDSUpdateTool), you will get one of the following :

MasterRequestRestartYour server is out of date. Please update and restart.

MasterRequestRestartServer will restart on map change.

And the client is getting the following :

The server you are connecting to is running an older version of the game

You can try to update using HLDSUpdateTool but nothing will change, you will be stuck with your old version, and you will keep getting the same errors.

The key is to get the new TF2 server software, that uses SteamPipe. To do so, you have to grab the new SteamCMD program, that replaces HLDSUpdateTool, and install the TF2 server as explained in Valve documentation.

Because the documentation is not quite clear (in particular, concerning the new AppID to use), here is a few-steps tutorial to install your new TF2 server :

Make sure you create a new directory for SteamCMD files, do not install it in HLDSUpdateTool directory : mkdir steamcmd && cd steamcmd

Note that the Steam AppID is now 232250 and not 440 as HLDSUpdateTool used to prompt.

Now you can run your new TF2 server : get back to the upper directory (cd ..) and start it :./tf2_server/srcds_run -steam_dir steamcmd/ -steamcmd_script steamcmd/steamcmd.sh -console -game tf +map cp_dustbowl -maxplayers 16

Of course, you will have to copy your existing server.cfg, mapcycle, and MODs to your new TF2 installation directory (in tf2_server/tf/ sub-folders, indeed). If you have no clue of what I am talking about, please read the Team Fortress Wiki.

I hope this post will help those who are stuck with these “server deprecated” errors and unable to use their server. Have fun !